by Minh Tran

Created on: January 26, 2008

Before adopting the Gregorian calendar, some East Asian countries (China, Japan, Korea and Vietnam) used the type of calendar which is often known as the Chinese Lunar Calendar. Despite being called "Lunar", the calendar is in nature luni-solar. It is devised based on both the astronomical observation of the Moon and the changes of the seasons in a year which is the influence of the movement of the Earth around the Sun.

A year in the Chinese Lunar Calendar has 12 months in which a "full" month has 30 days and the
"not full" month has 29 days. One year represents a complete seasonal cycle. There are special years (often translated into English as "leap year") that have 13 months. A period of 19 years has 7 leap years. The leap years are determined based on the prediction of the change of the season. They are often years that have unusual climate such as a long summer or winter. A full moon day is always the 15th day of the month. Like Gregorian calendar, a day in Chinese Lunar Calendar starts (roughly) at midnight.

A year of the Chinese Lunar Calendar is not numbered. Instead it is named with one element from the ten Heavenly Stems and the twelve Earthly Branches (the Earthly Branches are more commonly known under the name "Chinese Zodiac"). The ten Heavenly Stems in correct order are "jia", "yi", "bing", "ding", "wu", "ji", "geng", "xin", "ren" and "gui", each of which is the Yang or Yin side of one of the five basic elements in Chinese cosmopolitan view (wood, fire, earth, metal and water). The twelve Earthly Branches in correct order are "zi" (the Rat), "chou" (the Ox), "yin" (the Tiger), "mao" (the Rabbit), "chen" (the Dragon), "si" (the Snake), "wu" (the Horse), "wei" (the Sheep), "shen" (the Monkey), "you" (the Rooster), "xu" (the Dog) and "hai" (the Pig). In the Vietnamese version of the Calendar, the Cat replaces the Rabbit and the Goat is in the Sheep's place. Because the smallest common product of 10 (Heavenly Stems) and 12 (Earthly Branches) is 60, the name of the Lunar Calendar year repeats every 60 year. Because of the order of the elements must be observed, some combinations are never actually used such as "Jia Chou" ("jia" and the Ox).

The twelve Earthly Branches are also used to named the hours of the day. Thus a day in Chinese Lunar Calendar has 12 hours instead of 24. The hour of the Rat is from 11 p.m. to 1 a.m., the Ox 1 a.m. - 3 a.m., the Tiger 3 a.m. - 5 a.m., the Rabbit 5 a.m. - 7 a.m., the Dragon 7 a.m. - 9 a.m., the Snake 9 a.m. - 11 a.m.,

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